Could gold Zelda edition Nintendo 3DS XL be the most important console launch on 22 November?

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A large percentage of the gaming community will have marked down 22 November as the date the next-generation console war starts; It's the street date for the Xbox One, but for some a far more important console launch is also happening that day. Nintendo fans will pooh-pooh the Microsoft event shenanigans in favour of a special-edition, gold 3DS XL that comes bundled with the new Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

Also released on 22 November, the special handheld comes with the famous Triforce icon on the front and back. The rear of the console is black, which Nintendo says "beautifully represents the two parallel worlds Link travels between in the game".

The company also points out that the gold colouring has been somewhat synonymous with Zelda over the years, with the original NES game coming on a gold-coloured cartridge and the box art of Wind Walker HD for the Wii U also similarly hued.

The Zelda bundle will be available in the UK for £199 and the US for $219. The game itself will also be available on the same day as a standalone product for around £33.

It features an interesting new gameplay mechanic that allows you to merge Link with walls as moveable graffiti, and during Pocket-lint's brief play at a showcase event we discovered that there are many instances where this is needed to solve some fiendish puzzles. It could well breath new life into an already much-loved franchise.